An inhabitant of Magdala. Popularly, a woman found out. This definition of the word has the authority of ignorance, Mary of Magdala being another person than the penitent woman mentioned by St. Luke. It has also the official sanction of the governments of Great Britain and the United States. In England the word is pronounced Maudlin, whence maudlin, adjective, unpleasantly sentimental. With their Maudlin for Magdalene, and their Bedlam for Bethlehem, the English may justly boast themselves the greatest of revisers.
Latin for Hebrew Magdalit (Aramaic Magdalith; Greek Magdalenos). Possibly meaning of the town of Magdala, which was near Tiberius on the coast of Galilee. In Syriac the root gdl means “to braid, twistâ€, and there is a tradition that this Miriam was called “Magdalene†because she braided her hair. Mt 27:56, etc.